On to the injectors! On removing the air filter, I had a eureka moment, when I saw that one of the injectors had an obvious leak. Luckily it was one of the easy ones to get to. The pairs of injectors on either end have great access but the two in the middle look difficult. I changed the leaky one and one other and am waiting some more in the mail. The injectors themselves look fine, the delicate tips look just like the new ones. The fit of the new Oring and new insulator in the head is tight. I had to tap them in with a 15mm socket. The old ones came right out. The old seals were very brittle and mashed. It was nice to freshen up the seals but after a couple of starts, I don't think this is the cause of my stumbling start.

glenmore
1991 300CE
2000 C280
1990 LS400

Here is a tip from a veteran MB shop owner. He advises that as our engines get some miles and age on them they tend to leak air. Thus when starting you should give a little throttle, press accelerator pedal down, then start the car.

Steve

Another trick is to turn the key On and wait for 10 sec before turning to the starter position....this assures full fuel system pressure before crank..........

Once the Idle air lines get hard they leek so replace them,Its cheep and solves a great deal of troubles when you go one step farther and replace the entire rubber pieces of the intake and vacuum ports.Very cheep insurance!

Totally frustrating, isn't it?

__________________
joel

Prayers bring forth enlightenment.